advice for fat loss/building muscle
Replies
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Good for you- weight loss is calories in/ calories out- eat at a deficit- and weight loss will come- mine has been slow- but still i am finally losing0
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PinkPixiexox wrote: »Fruit isn't bad for you!
Isn't that crazy? This is why I've left that other weight loss app in favor of mfp. Fess up to eating a couple fruits and you risk being berated for sugar consumption as if you just ate an entire cake. I bought into it for a couple weeks, but....no.
I just bought a bag of apples.
Good for you!
! Healthy habits are the way forward! 0 -
That same bag will give that same measurement in parentheses after it in the weight in grams. Use that instead of the cup measure. Especially for things like fats, nuts, butters, salad dressings. But preferably for EVERYTHINGI have a scale. But if a bag of frozen veg says 2/3cup, I measure it that way. Still, I'll be more conscious of portions. Thanks.
Cosigned. You will be surprised. Some foods you will get more, some less.
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PinkPixiexox wrote: »Fruit isn't bad for you!
Isn't that crazy? This is why I've left that other weight loss app in favor of mfp. Fess up to eating a couple fruits and you risk being berated for sugar consumption as if you just ate an entire cake. I bought into it for a couple weeks, but....no.
I just bought a bag of apples.
What was the other app?
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That same bag will give that same measurement in parentheses after it in the weight in grams. Use that instead of the cup measure. Especially for things like fats, nuts, butters, salad dressings. But preferably for EVERYTHINGI have a scale. But if a bag of frozen veg says 2/3cup, I measure it that way. Still, I'll be more conscious of portions. Thanks.
cosigned. X 20 -
That same bag will give that same measurement in parentheses after it in the weight in grams. Use that instead of the cup measure. Especially for things like fats, nuts, butters, salad dressings. But preferably for EVERYTHINGI have a scale. But if a bag of frozen veg says 2/3cup, I measure it that way. Still, I'll be more conscious of portions. Thanks.
This, becaue the measurment on the bag is usally MORE than the grams in the parens beside it. At least, that has been my experience. Calories add up over time.0 -
[/quote]
What was the other app?
[/quote]
Surprisingly.....myplate.
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I have 20lbs to lose. I have been eating well and sticking to around 1350cals. Diet has been very high protein (at least 100g daily), moderate fats/carbs. High in veggies with minimal fruit since I was told it's so bad for you.
I'm doing 30mins cardio and lifting weights for another 30mins 5x/wk. I really would like to try to build some muscle, hence higher protein (what I was also told).
Anyway, after a month I'm seeing no results at all. Very discouraged! My scale will not budge at all. Any thoughts on modifying my diet/cals, or my workout? I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Wait, what? Whoever said fruits are bad for you needs to pull their head out of their @$$. That's just plain old wrong.0 -
Get your body fat down and you'll achieve both.Ok. I get that.
So basically I have to decide if building muscle or weight loss is my goal. I really don't care what my weight is actually. I just want to have a slight definition/build, minus the fat that's blanketing it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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A couple of observations/suggestions:
If you only have 20 lbs of weight/fat to lose, you're pretty close to your goal. It may take several months to see much change in measurements if you're already been exercising in a similar routine or on the scale (due to water retention). Many people have a very hard time losing that last 10-20 lbs and it's often very slowing going, especially for women. So you may have to put in a good 3-4 months to see much changes in measurements/scale weight for where you are.
Calorie cycling -- this is a strategy that some use to take off fat while trying to maintain as much LBM as possible in a deficit. Leangains is a good example. The gist is that you need to be hitting your protein goals every day (min of 1 g per lb LBM or some will just say 0.8 g per total weight to be conservative) and then you eat a higher percentage of carbs on lifting days and a much lower percentage on non-lifting days. Generally, you're lifting 3-4 days per week. The idea behind this is that you benefit from the high carbs on lifting days for the insuligenic response you get which aid in recovery/muscle building. And on non-lifting days, you eat low carbs so as to reduce the amount of fat you gain.
The amount of overall calories varies on your goals. Fat loss is primary than you have a weekly deficit but try to create that deficit on your non-lifting days and eat maintenance on lifting. If you're recomping, slight surplus on lifting days and corresponding deficit on non-lifting days so your overall weekly deficit is nill. If you're gaining muscle, then eating more of a surplus on lifting days and maintenance on non-lifting days.
Intermittent Fasting -- some have also found this helpful. There are different types of IF. Some will do a 16/8 or 14/10 daily cycle where you only get your calories in for 8-10 hours a day (for many, this means they just skip breakfast). Some will do something with longer fast cycles like 5:2 where you're fasting 2 days per week and eat the other 5. 5:2 in particular has been shown to help with insulin resistance, so if that's an issue for you, it may be particularly appealing. I personally found no difference with the daily cycles, but did with 5:2 -- even when the weekly caloric deficits were nearly identical. Others find great results with the daily cycles. So, it really varies on the individual.
These two methods are not guaranteed to work for you, but they do work for many. And many incorporate one or the other into a calorie cycling regime as well (just make sure you're not doing a full fast day when you lift -- bad idea).0 -
Wow. Thanks for all that Lindsey. I'm going to have to read it a few times to digest it all.
I'm wondering if all this is as simple as me having been overeating/underestimating calories. I'm going to work on that a bit more, and if I'm still stuck in definitely going to try your suggestions. They do make sense.0 -
OP, welcome to the confusing, often contradictory, headache-inducing world of MFP.
I've been trying to keep my nostrils above the knowledge waterline here for a few months, and I can say this - you'll read some stuff that will have you shaking your head, and sometimes the more you learn, the dumber you're gonna feel...but there's a LOT of experience here.
Issack - I have a question for you, regarding the stance you've been expressing here. You seem pretty firm in your opinion that you can't build muscle mass in a deficit (although you seem to have conceded that it can be done, it's just hard).
My BMR is almost 2000, and my "lightly active" TDEE is 2475 or so (5'9", 50, 237 lbs), and I've been eating between 1400-1700 a day (although last week, down with a cold, i barely got to the high triple digits a few days in a row. not good, i know). I generally don't eat back any exercise burn.
I've been doing cardio religiously, because while it's time consuming, it's been delivering results (down 40+ since memorial day)...but I've also put together a regimen of reps on a dozen or so of the dreaded machines at the gym (leg press, extensions and curl, chest and overhead press, lat pulls, rowing, abdominals, etc)...and have made some significant progress in terms of adding weight to my reps over the month or so i've been going to the gym.
i'm feeling some firmness in spots i haven't felt it for a long time...and while i'm not gonna be on any magazine covers, i feel as though i'm actually making progress.
so my question, finally - am i doing any kind of damage...risking burnout or anything of that nature...by maybe taking on too much at once, eating at a deficit and dipping my toes in the weight training pool? if i'm eating at a deficit and going to the gym anyway, am i running the risk of injury or burnout or worse?
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Watch for signs of overtraining -- fatigue, injury, general feeling of being run down, extended periods/poor recovery, colds that are more often or take a long time to resolve, deterioration of sleep quality or needing a lot more sleep to feel rested, etc. if you're not experiencing these, you're probably okay.
Many don't combine extended cardio with serious weight training because it often doesn't allow adequate recovery time which is essential when you're increasing muscle/strength -- it will often cause stalls. But this is usually only applicable to substantial free weight routines with full body/major muscle lifts (like squats, bench, deadlifts,etc.).
Your routine seems much lighter since you're using machines, so you're probably fine -- just watch for signs of overtraining. Then you might want to back down on your routine or up cals reduce overall bodily stress.
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lindsey1979 wrote: »
Your routine seems much lighter since you're using machines, so you're probably fine -- just watch for signs of overtraining. Then you might want to back down on your routine or up cals reduce overall bodily stress.
One of the reasons for starting relatively lightly was specifically not to try to bite off more than I can chew. Based on a lot of what I've heard here, you really kinda DO have to pick one or the other out of the gate...either burn off the fat or start building muscle and let the fat fall away much more slowly as a byproduct of training.
I've seen me naked, and I know which one i'm MUCH more in need of at the moment.
(BTW - even at my more moderate pace, i've been surprised at how quickly you can max out the weight allotment on some of those machines. I'm at 270 already on the leg press, and I've maxed out the calf extensions and the abdominal rotation thingy in the back (at barely more than 100 each).
I see why you guys who are for real in the weight room chuckle at the rest of us sometimes. 0 -
I'm still debating going for muscle over weight loss, but I'm wondering if I can put enough time in weekly to make it work. What is an average amount of time to spend in terms of how many days per week and length of workouts?
Since you don't work every muscle group every day I imaging you could lift daily....concentrating on different areas if you wanted? Or is it best to have total rest days?0 -
I'm still debating going for muscle over weight loss, but I'm wondering if I can put enough time in weekly to make it work. What is an average amount of time to spend in terms of how many days per week and length of workouts?
Since you don't work every muscle group every day I imaging you could lift daily....concentrating on different areas if you wanted? Or is it best to have total rest days?- New Rules of Lifting For Women
- Strong Curves
- ICF 5x5
- StrongLifts 5x5
They're the best programs for beginner weight lifters in a caloric surplus as you will have newbie gains for the majority of muscle groups instead of doing splits which aren't as efficient for a noob...
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IsaackGMOON wrote: »No results at all? Are you sure? The scale is not the be all and end all in this endeavor. With diet and exercise we sometimes gain muscle mass, toning and lose in certain measurements while not losing weight. Is you waist thinner, your clothes more lose, do you feel stronger? Positive results not scale related. Re-check for NonScale Victories and report back.
I can guarantee she is not gaining muscle while in a deficit.
No way is she trading off fat loss with muscle mass. i.e. losing 1lb of fat and gaining 1lb of muscle which could cause no scale change.
Your post contradicts itself.
Your comment is highly inaccurate & unsubstantiated..
There IS potential for increasing muscle mass during a deficit - and being a woman (lower testosterone) does NOT imply we cannot build muscle (pity you cant have a poke at my quads/guns etc and THEN tell me women cant build muscle readily, particularly at a deficit). I've done it myself!! - i've effectively recomped at a deficit - 31 lbs fat loss and a sizeable increase in lean muscle mass, via high intensity, heavy lifting 5-6x a week (split program), keto cut, IFing, refeeds/CKD etc. Check 'newbie gains' - it is ENTIRELY possible.
Of course, if i had been eating at maintenance (or preferably slight excess) id have likely packed on even more muscle, and possibly if i was a guy i might well have had a genetic advantage, but to say that because a) you're a woman and b) you're at a deficit you catagorically cannot build muscle is absolute RUBBISH. Yes, it is much harder, but if you put the effort in and work your butt off you can achieve muscle gains and fat loss. I am living proof! (And i dont mess about - when i cut i cut hard, when i workout i lift my *kitten* off, i IF regularly, take a few supplements to help support my efforts & re-feed when im depleted).
Blatantly sexist comments regards women not being able to build quality muscle really get my goat - i can guarantee some women have the ability to pack on muscle with a decent heavy lifting program & controlled nutrition/supplementation. In fact, i workout with a couple guys occasionally and my muscle gains have exceeded theirs, proportionally.
Im now under 1lb from goal weight. When this cut ends im transitioning to a maintenance recomp or a very slight clean bulk - at that point i have no doubt the muscle gains will increase dramatically, but being at a deficit has not preventing me from respectable lean gains & an undeniable body transformation.
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lindsey1979 wrote: »A couple of observations/suggestions:
If you only have 20 lbs of weight/fat to lose, you're pretty close to your goal. It may take several months to see much change in measurements if you're already been exercising in a similar routine or on the scale (due to water retention). Many people have a very hard time losing that last 10-20 lbs and it's often very slowing going, especially for women. So you may have to put in a good 3-4 months to see much changes in measurements/scale weight for where you are.
Calorie cycling -- this is a strategy that some use to take off fat while trying to maintain as much LBM as possible in a deficit. Leangains is a good example. The gist is that you need to be hitting your protein goals every day (min of 1 g per lb LBM or some will just say 0.8 g per total weight to be conservative) and then you eat a higher percentage of carbs on lifting days and a much lower percentage on non-lifting days. Generally, you're lifting 3-4 days per week. The idea behind this is that you benefit from the high carbs on lifting days for the insuligenic response you get which aid in recovery/muscle building. And on non-lifting days, you eat low carbs so as to reduce the amount of fat you gain.
The amount of overall calories varies on your goals. Fat loss is primary than you have a weekly deficit but try to create that deficit on your non-lifting days and eat maintenance on lifting. If you're recomping, slight surplus on lifting days and corresponding deficit on non-lifting days so your overall weekly deficit is nill. If you're gaining muscle, then eating more of a surplus on lifting days and maintenance on non-lifting days.
Intermittent Fasting -- some have also found this helpful. There are different types of IF. Some will do a 16/8 or 14/10 daily cycle where you only get your calories in for 8-10 hours a day (for many, this means they just skip breakfast). Some will do something with longer fast cycles like 5:2 where you're fasting 2 days per week and eat the other 5. 5:2 in particular has been shown to help with insulin resistance, so if that's an issue for you, it may be particularly appealing. I personally found no difference with the daily cycles, but did with 5:2 -- even when the weekly caloric deficits were nearly identical. Others find great results with the daily cycles. So, it really varies on the individual.
These two methods are not guaranteed to work for you, but they do work for many. And many incorporate one or the other into a calorie cycling regime as well (just make sure you're not doing a full fast day when you lift -- bad idea).
BINGO! Nice to read helpful & substantiated offerings! Great advice here.
I used all of these tools to achieve my recomp results.
During the final stages of my cut i do 1 big carb-up on refeed day 1x week to replenish muscle glycogen, raise leptin, increase energy, improve metabolic functioning etc, and then i stick to strict Keto (<20g total carbs) the rest of the week @ a good deficit, zig-zagging my calories to avoid metabolic adaptation, whilst lifting heavy 5-6x a week, a little HIIT/LISS, and implementing Intermittent Fasting as needed, with a PSMF 3/4 of the way through to push me through a stall.
Using all the tools you can research to help you reach your goals will aide your efforts noticeably.
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I'm still debating going for muscle over weight loss, but I'm wondering if I can put enough time in weekly to make it work. What is an average amount of time to spend in terms of how many days per week and length of workouts?
Since you don't work every muscle group every day I imaging you could lift daily....concentrating on different areas if you wanted? Or is it best to have total rest days?
I do a 3-day split, x2, then 1 rest day. If im really flagging i'll take 1 extra day off, so 5-6x a week is my lifting schedule. Works for me. I hate full-body workouts. Split programs suit me much much better and allow me to really concentrate on each muscle group until failure.
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CoconuttyMummy wrote: »IsaackGMOON wrote: »No results at all? Are you sure? The scale is not the be all and end all in this endeavor. With diet and exercise we sometimes gain muscle mass, toning and lose in certain measurements while not losing weight. Is you waist thinner, your clothes more lose, do you feel stronger? Positive results not scale related. Re-check for NonScale Victories and report back.
I can guarantee she is not gaining muscle while in a deficit.
No way is she trading off fat loss with muscle mass. i.e. losing 1lb of fat and gaining 1lb of muscle which could cause no scale change.
Your post contradicts itself.
Your comment is highly inaccurate & unsubstantiated..
There IS potential for increasing muscle mass during a deficit - and being a woman (lower testosterone) does NOT imply we cannot build muscle (pity you cant have a poke at my quads/guns etc and THEN tell me women cant build muscle readily, particularly at a deficit). I've done it myself!! - i've effectively recomped at a deficit - 31 lbs fat loss and a sizeable increase in lean muscle mass, via high intensity, heavy lifting 5-6x a week (split program), keto cut, IFing, refeeds/CKD etc. Check 'newbie gains' - it is ENTIRELY possible.
Of course, if i had been eating at maintenance (or preferably slight excess) id have likely packed on even more muscle, and possibly if i was a guy i might well have had a genetic advantage, but to say that because a) you're a woman and b) you're at a deficit you catagorically cannot build muscle is absolute RUBBISH. Yes, it is much harder, but if you put the effort in and work your butt off you can achieve muscle gains and fat loss. I am living proof! (And i dont mess about - when i cut i cut hard, when i workout i lift my *kitten* off, i IF regularly, take a few supplements to help support my efforts & re-feed when im depleted).
Blatantly sexist comments regards women not being able to build quality muscle really get my goat - i can guarantee some women have the ability to pack on muscle with a decent heavy lifting program & controlled nutrition/supplementation. In fact, i workout with a couple guys occasionally and my muscle gains have exceeded theirs, proportionally.
Im now under 1lb from goal weight. When this cut ends im transitioning to a maintenance recomp or a very slight clean bulk - at that point i have no doubt the muscle gains will increase dramatically, but being at a deficit has not preventing me from respectable lean gains & an undeniable body transformation.
His comments aren't blatantly sexist, they're blatantly accurate.0
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